Wednesday, August 31, 2011

About ten weeks ago I had a momentary lapse in judgment and signed up to run in a half marathon. Yikes, what was I thinking! I'd planned on running in a 10K race this year but when I saw this all women's race I thought to myself, "a half marathon isn't much farther than a 10K" and I signed up. Silly me! A half marathon is more than twice as long as a 10K - I really did know this but like I mentioned - a momentary lapse in judgment.

When the reality of what I'd done sunk in, I kind of freaked out for a few minutes but then decided this would be some good motivation to get my sorry self out running regularly again. I figured I could at least get in good enough shape to finish and started getting up at 5:00 am to run before work 4 days a week. On Saturday mornings, I'd go for long runs to build up my distance. (I haven't blogged this whole month because I've spent my extra time trying to get ready for the race.) It was pretty hard at first but within a few weeks I could tell a difference - the running was getting easier.

I'm a pretty slow runner so my goal was to finish in around 2 hours and 45 minutes. I'm happy to say not only did I finish the race, I actually accomplished this goal by finishing in 2 hours and 37 minutes. I did it! It was hard, and there were moments when I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it - I'm so glad I didn't listen to the self doubt and give up.

Brad has been a HUGE support too - encouraging me the whole time, helpimg me get out to run and even going on a few runs with me. He came and ran the last 4.5 miles with me - I'm not sure I would have made it without his encouragement. Crossing the finish line was such a great sense of accomplishment. I plan to keep on running and who knows, maybe I can do another half marathon next year but finish in 2 hours - it's something to work for. :)

"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong because at some point in your life, you will have been all of these."

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children...to leave the world a better place...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” Ralph Waldo Emerson